Pubdate: Tue, 31 Aug 1999
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Chronicle
Contact:  http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/
Author: Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer

CONCERN OVER RISE IN BLUE NITRO USE 6 IN S.F. OVERDOSE ON DRUG IN ONE WEEK

Police are scrambling to deal with a growing number of overdoses tied
to a hallucinogenic drug that is the rave of the club scene in San
Francisco.

The drug, GHB or Blue Nitro, has been linked to four deaths in the
city in the past two years.

At 4 a.m. yesterday, paramedics rushed to Club Townsend on Townsend
Street, where they found two men near death after they apparently took
large doses of GHB. Club officials were not available yesterday.

A week before, four men were taken to the hospital from Cafe Cocomo on
Indiana Street. Police reports indicated that the four drank from a
bottle of GHB that was passed around the club and soon fell
unconscious.

Police say the use of the drug is out of control.

``It started as minor rave party involvement, and within this last
year it has become a major drug on the after-hour club scene,'' said
Lieutenant Kitt Crenshaw of department's narcotics unit. ``The danger
is coming when it is combined with alcohol.''

``Poly-abusers'' take GHB along with ecstasy, cocaine, alcohol and
other drugs.

Crenshaw said GHB, short for gamma hydroxy butyrate, is not outlawed
nationwide. Its precursor, an industrial solvent called gamma butyl
lactone, is legally sold in the state.

Last month, police seized nearly five gallons of the drug in a single
raid. ``It's becoming an epidemic situation,'' Crenshaw said. ``We
have seized more of it than ever before.''

While merchants have largely complied with a citywide voluntary ban on
the sale of the substance, police say it is readily made from
directions available over the Internet and that there is a market for
the drug in the city's nightclub scene.

In the past two years, according to Medical Examiner Boyd Stephens, at
least four people have died from the drug.

One victim, Skylar Ringland, 22, died after consuming GHB at either a
party or a club in San Francisco on April 4. Police are not sure
whether she took the drug willingly, said Inspector Kervin Silas. ``We
are looking into it,'' he said.

Ringland worked designing compact disc covers and wanted to go to film
school, said her mother, Kathleen Boile. ``She had so many plans for
her life,'' she said. `'She wasn't a slacker or somebody waiting
around to get high.''

Police say they have identified four clubs as being current or former
hot spots for the illicit sale and use of the drug.

Crenshaw said authorities have been investigating the Cafe Cocomo for
the last month based on complaints from another club.

The Cocomo has ``Second Sunday'' parties once a month. The promoter of
the affairs, Andre Robbins, said yesterday that he would cooperate
with police to make sure the events are safe and legal.

``We will work with the Police Department on future parties, so
hopefully nothing like this ever happens again,'' Robbins said of the
four overdoses last week. ``This was a very isolated incident -- we
were all in shock.''

He said the club plans to bring in more security and post a paramedic
at the club during the parties, which he said cater to the ``Silicon
Valley yuppie'' set.

``I don't know . . . what would make someone to do something crazy
like that,'' Robbins said. ``But we are going to have posted signs
saying we have no tolerance for any sort of drug.''

Guards will be ``on the lookout for anything that looks suspicious,''
he said.

So far, two clubs targeted by police have faced nuisance abatement
action from the city because of alleged problems with GHB and other
drugs. One, the Sound Factory on Harrison Street, changed ownership
and is no longer under police investigation.

The other club, the Ten 15 on Folsom Street, could lose its
entertainment, dance hall and after-hours permits in a pending
revocation proceeding.

``They are quiet now,'' Crenshaw said. ``But we had numerous
complaints and an overdose death,'' in which the victim was found last
January in Harriet Alley next to the club. Management at the Ten 15
denies that the death was connected to the club.
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